Secret project

[John A.]

Yep. Been thinking about it a while now. Finally starting to get serious about it and been ordering some parts now that a few things are becoming available in the US.

Of course, the antigunners will still not like it despite that it will use a "low" capacity detachable magazine (5 rounds).

And it won't even be a semiauto either.

But I learned long ago that it's not semiauto guns that the antigunners don't like. It's ALL guns in general. And they just want to dictate to you what you can own based on their opinions.

So, they'll still hate it despite that it doesn't fit their current description and only fits their future definition of what an evil gun is.

Don't care.

Gonna do it anyway.

 

[Komodoj]

Yep. Been thinking about it a couple of years now. Finally starting to get serious about it and been ordering some parts now that a few things are becoming available in the US.

Of course, the antigunners will still not like it despite that it will use a "low" capacity detachable magazine (5 rounds).

And it won't even be a semiauto either.

But I learned long ago that it's not semiauto guns that the antigunners don't like. It's ALL guns in general. And they just want to dictate to you what you can own based on their opinions.

So, they'll still hate it despite that it doesn't fit their current description and only fits their future definition of what an evil gun is.

Don't care.

Gonna do it anyway.

So........ Your finally gonna build the Flux capacitor with the Reverse flanged muffler bearing that runs off of powdered water!!! Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh right also it takes five round nuclear infused clipazines!!! )))))))))))))).

 

[John A.]

Almost.

It may still be in the 40 watt range though. I'm hoping for about 42.325 watts precisely if my calculations are correct.

Manually operated, Left hand charged, straight pull AR bolt action upper.

Anyway, here's a few pictures so far.

Started off by drilling a pilot hole in the side of the slick side upper receiver

Then, making the bolt handle and finishing it.

Afterwards, drilling and tapping into the bolt carrier group so I can get the rest of the measurements where I need them and make some cheater marks.

And then the fun part. Making chips.

So far, so good. Here it is straight off of the mill. Still had to smooth any burrs and rough spots and refinish the raw metal but the most stressful part of the project is done now.

More to come later.

 

[Daryll]

I see what you're doing.. you're making a Uk legal "straight-pull" 300BO

 

[John A.]

Yeah, almost. This one is going to be chambered in the Russian 9x39 cartridge.

It's not going to be a gasoline operated fully semi-automatic evil weapon of war, so shouldn't be classified as any type of [gasp] assault weapon.

But that isn't why I'm doing it this way. I sincerely do have my motives.

Mainly to make the firearm much more effective for what I have in mind. Without getting into too many details in public, I'll send you a PM. I'm sure you'll find it interesting.

 

[John A.]

Checked the clearances on everything and it looks like all systems are "go".

The bolt hold open lever and the bolt handle don't interfere with each other. Though, they are CLOSE, they clear each other just fine.

Empty magazine locks the bolt open.

I went back and forth trying to decide whether I wanted to install the normal AR15 charging handle. And after some consideration, I'm going to. The main reason is so the bottom channel of the charging handle helps keep the bolt carrier straight and from twisting or turning as much when cycling the bolt. The other reason is the front of the charging handle acts as somewhat of a stop or a buffer so the face of the bolt and the barrel extension don't batter each other as much when pushing the bolt home.

Or, letting the buffer spring assist operate normally.

So, I chopped the ears off of the charging handle to give it a more streamlined and lower profile.

When I chopped the right ear off, I inadvertently exposed the hole where the charging handle spring tensioner lived. So, I ended up tapping the hole and using a bolt so the spring stays in place. I may go back and drill a small hole horizontally and install a small keeper pin so the spring would be retained and then JB weld over the hole and refinishing it that way. The button screw is working fine, but I think the captured pin would be less of an eyesore.

Still, the upper is taking shape now.

 

[Komodoj]

Looks great John!!!!! Like the final finished pics!!! Word of advice. Might need to find some rail space for a light or something. The whole Gun looks bare!!!!!!

 

[Komodoj]

Just kidding. Your set up looks amazing. Great job my friend!!!

 

[John A.]

I know you were kidding.

But you know me too well and I do need to make a confession.

The handguard that I bought to use on it, is a 16.5" continuous top rail with M-Lok attachment rails. So, it'll probably have at least half of the gadgets and whizbangs that you have pictured.

At least a digital day/night ATN scope. An IR light. Probably a bipod. Maybe a front grip. Cup holder for my pop and pouch for the bag of tater chips and other snacks when I'm hunting. You know, the important stuff.

I'll have to hire someone to help to pack it around in the woods when I'm looking for supper.

 

[tcecil88]

Looks like a pretty neat project.

 

[John A.]

Thanks guys.

Tcecil, it is certainly a different approach than I normally take. But, as I said earlier, I do have my reasons for making it the way that I am.

Just do some research on the Delisle carbine and it should become evident what I have in mind.

Here is one good material source:
https://www.rifleman.org.uk/The_DeLisle_carbine.htm

 

[tcecil88]

If I may, what do you use to refinish the anodization? I have been thinking about doing one of the PDQ ambi bolt releases, but don't want to leave bare metal.

 

[John A.]

Anodizing tank would be the proper answer, but in fairness, I have been using testors flat black model car paint. It seems to be a little more abrasion resistant than birchwood casey flat black paint pen.

 

[Komodoj]

If I may, what do you use to refinish the anodization? I have been thinking about doing one of the PDQ ambi bolt releases, but don't want to leave bare metal.

I found great results using the birch wood Casey Aluminum touch up. Apply’s like cold blue. Best results totally degreased then apply a few coats and keep repeating to get desired color.

 

[tcecil88]

Cool, thanks. Testors is cheap too. I watched a video about the PDQ install, the guy used Birchwood Casey Aluminium Black. Seems easy enough to use as well.

 

[CaddmannQ]

John you getting me interested in the idea of a bolt-action subsonic 300 pistol.

We all know that shooting fast is far less important than shooting accurately.

I have a bunch of parts left over from an AR that never worked correctly as a semi-auto.

 

[John A.]

You'd get more range and less drop with supersonics, but there are many other cartridges that you can do for longer range accuracy. The 6.5 Grendel would probably be one of the first calibers that I would look into.

Plus, there are many side charging uppers available on the market if you prefer to get over the counter parts.

I already had a slick side upper in my bin which was collecting dust and I wanted to do it myself. I mostly wanted to do the mods and prove to myself that I could do it because obviously I've never done anything like that before.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=side charging bolt action ar15 upper&atb=v169-2__&ia=web

Here is how the basic design will turn out. The one in the video is the Southern Gun Company from England, which I think was the one that Daryll was referring to.

 

[John A.]

Still haven't gotten to fire it yet. Plus, I'll be working up a better load than the Wolf ammo anyway considering I don't have to concern myself with excessive gas to cycle the bolt since after all, that will be manually operated.

But for the time being, I am going to use up the wolf ammo just to get a feel for it and to get a solid baseline to go by.

I'll also most likely be getting a dedicated low power scope too but this is the only "spare" that I have at the moment that isn't already dedicated to something else. It'll work better for testing anyway since it'll give me some point of view videos.

 

[John A.]

 

[John A.]

Just wanted to give a few updates.

Since shooting it, I chamfered the edges of the slot that I milled for the bolt handle because the sharp edges drew more blood than Dracula.

Secondly, I reduced the sound of the extractor slipping over the case of the rim (which was the loudest part of the action noise as you can hear in the video). I did that by removing the rubber buffer in the extractor spring which was causing too much resistance. It both functions easier now and is considerably more quiet.

And finally, I modified the follower in the ASC 7.62x39 magazine because it's just wrong. The follower was the main cause of the magazine swelling and barely holding any cartridges before it was swelled so badly that you couldn't insert the mag with more than 4 or 5 rounds in it.

You can see from the photo just how much of each of the case stuck out over the side of the follower. So, I filed some of the ledge of the follower some so the case would be more centered in the mag body. Then I added some JB weld to the top of the ledge so it would support the 2nd (left) case better since by seating bullet 1 (right) farther over threw off the alignment.

Now, I was able to easily load 18 rounds in the 20 round magazine and insert and remove the mag with little resistance. Which I expected the overall capacity to be reduced some because the 9x39 is a fatter bullet than the 7.62x39 the mags are made for.

After 11 rounds, the mag wouldn't drop free, but even with 18 rounds, insert and removal of the magazine was almost effortless with nothing more than 2 fingers gently pulling down on it. So, I can live with that. Before, I seriously wouldn't be able to pound the mag in the receiver with more than 6 rounds in the mag. So, I'm going to call that a win.